Edward Abrahams, Executive Director of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, a non-profit educational and advocacy group representing diverse members with an interest in advancing medical progress through the adoption of personalized medicine concepts and products, brings extensive experience in industry, academia, and government to the position. As former Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association, Dr. Abrahams managed all aspects of the Association, including public advocacy, medical relations, and educational programs, tripling its size and revenues in three years. He also spearheaded the successful effort that led to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's investment of $200 million to commercialize biotechnology in that state.
Previously, Dr. Abrahams had been Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, and also held a senior administrative position at Brown University. Before becoming a university administrator, Dr. Abrahams worked seven years for the United States Congress, including as a legislative assistant to Senator Lloyd Bentsen and as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee under the chairmanship of Congressman Lee Hamilton. In addition to articles in both popular and professional journals, he is the author of The Lyrical left: Randolph Bourne, Alfred Stieglitz and the Origins of Cultural Radicalism in America.
President
Genzyme Genetics
Mara Aspinall is the President of Genzyme Genetics, a leading worldwide provider of testing and consultative services. Genzyme Genetics is a division of Genzyme Corporation, one of the world's largest biotechnology firms with more than 8,000 employees and more than $2.5 billion in revenue.
From its roots 20 years ago, Genzyme Genetics has established itself as one of the industry's foremost independent diagnostics businesses, performing more than one million tests annually, while leading the personalized medicine, prenatal, postnatal, infertility and oncology testing markets. Genzyme Genetics has eight laboratories across the U.S. and employs the nation's largest network of board-certified genetic counselors. Genzyme Genetics has achieved record growth while setting the quality standard within the diagnostics industry. Most recently, Genzyme Genetics acquired the assets of IMPATH, Inc., one of the nation's largest cancer testing companies, making Genzyme Genetics one of the top commercial laboratories in the U.S.
Under Mara's leadership, Genzyme Genetics has expanded its range and reach in the marketplace. The division has successfully completed and integrated four acquisitions, expanded research and development programs, and initiated new programs for community outreach and education.
Mara previously served as President of another Genzyme division, Genzyme Pharmaceuticals. In her four years as President, she restructured the business from generic drug manufacturing to value-added custom production. She built a new international management team that created more than 25% annual growth.
Prior to joining Genzyme, Mara was Director of Client Services at Hale and Dorr LLC, and was responsible for the firm's worldwide practice and development, strategic planning and marketing. Mara started her business career at Bain & Company, an international strategic consulting firm. At Bain, she specialized in developing and implementing business strategies for health care product and service companies.
Mara combines her professional life with active involvement in the community. Her two most important areas of focus are: 1) The fight against cancer: Mara is an active Board member of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where she sits on the Executive Committee as well as the Trustee Science Committee. She has previously served as Chairman of the Board of the American Cancer Society, Massachusetts. During her tenure at ACS, she oversaw the process of merging the Massachusetts chapter into a newly formed New England American Cancer Society. 2) Expanding educational opportunities for young children: Mara co-chairs Early Education for All, an advocacy campaign to establish statewide standards for pre-school education. As a trustee of The Children's Museum, Mara led the Early Childhood Education task force. As a member of the Leadership Council of United Way, she lobbied successfully for the home visiting program for first time young mothers. Mara is a frequent speaker to regional and national organizations on creating business and legislative support for children's educational programs.
Her Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School was enriched with the John P. Stevens Prize for leadership. She has served on the board of the HBS Network for Women. A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University, Mara majored in International Relations.
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Genomic Healthcare Strategies
At Genomic Healthcare Strategies, Keith Batchelder evaluates partnership and commercialization opportunities for "personalized medicine" IP, drugs and technologies along with their potential for success in the markets. He gained this experience by servicing venture capital, pharma and biotech organizations.
Dr. Batchelder served as chief technical officer of WorldCare International Clinical Trials, enabling drugs to receive regulatory approval at the end of Phase II clinical trials by using surrogate endpoints. He was a core member of Harvard Salud Integral, a new HMO in Mexico City, growing the plan to over 150,000 covered lives. As a principal of AMICAS, he helped make Web based radiology (510k approved) a viable software company (liquidity event in 2002).
Dr. Batchelder was on the professional staff of Massachusetts General Hospital for 8 years. He was